"The central doctrine of Christianity, then, is not that God is a bastard. It is, in the words of the late Dominican theologian Herbert McCabe, that if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you."--Terry Eagleton

"It is impossible for me to say in my book one word about all that music has meant in my life. How then can I hope to be understood?--Ludwig Wittgenstein

“The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice."--Bryan Stevenson

Thursday, February 21, 2013

People don't matter

"My 24-year-old son Alex was murdered in a movie theater in Colorado," Caren Teves said, according to KTVK.
"These assault rifles allow the shooter to fire many rounds without
having to reload. These weapons do not belong on our streets."

McCain responded: “I can tell you right now you need some straight
talk. That assault weapons ban will not pass the Congress of the United
States." McCain added that he is working on legislation that would keep
guns out of the wrong hands while preserving the Second Amendment.

Please to notice there not even the acknowledgement of the grieving mother, or the death of a human being.

Bultmann is almost ready for presentation. We can't change the subject too soon.

5 Comments:

McCain is such a narcissist he can't be bothered to hear what the woman is saying or conceive of it being as important as his currying favor with the far-right of the Republican Party and the gun industry. He is contemptible.

Who does John McCain think he is? Dr. Phil? And at least Dr. Phil would acknowledge the mother's grief and death of a human being before going on his "let me tell it to you straight" kick.

Anyway, I am very tired of hearing what we can't do from people who are in positions to do stuff. I understand that we need to make sure that whatever legislation is passed is the right legislation, and I certainly prefer thoughtful deliberation to hasty action and even doing nothing to doing something wrong. Still, from dealing with the sequester (why not just admit it was a bad idea, cancel it and move on?), spending money on public works and needs, to gun control, why do our legislators just whine that they can't do anything? Why not, well, do their jobs and get something done?

And this is especially rich coming from people who, when we were attacked on 9/11, wasted no time in rushing to war and dismissing any voices that said "wait a minute" as un-patriotic. And also coming from people who are constantly going after educators for not getting "results" (aka high test scores).

A facet of the gun debate I find very depressing is the near paranoia on guns as security from the same people that profess the to have the strongest faith in god. I confess that my view on this is strongly colored by my having returned to faith, the Christianity in which I was raised, via AA. Unreasonable financial insecurities, unreasonable fears of loss, denial of what I think I am "owed", etc. are a sign of a lack of faith in god. "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" What I see instead is a grasping away from god. The gun holder can only depend on themselves, a radical self-sufficiency of personnal safety at the expense of everyone else. The people loudest in the media demanding unrestricted guns are living in some of the safest places. It is the irrational fear that leads to drinking but also all kinds of other destructive behaviours, such as thinking you need an arsenal, and the antidote is letting go and turning over those fears to god. We talk of this as a political issue, but I can't but help see it as also a spiritual issue. To finish on a better note, I am looking forward to the book discussion. Peace be with you all.